The Evolution of Phylogenetic Systematics aims to make sense of the rise of phylogenetic systematics-its methods, its objects of study, and its theoretical foundations-with contributions from historians, philosophers, and biologists. This volume articulates an intellectual agenda for the study of systematics and taxonomy in a way that connects classification with larger historical themes in the biological sciences, including morphology, experimental and observational approaches, evolution, biogeography, debates over form and function, character transformation, development, and biodiversity. It aims to provide frameworks for answering the question: how did systematics become phylogenetic?

List of ContributorsIntroductionAndrew HamiltonPart One. Historical Foundations1. Reflections on the History of SystematicsRobert E. Kohler2. Willi Hennig's Part in the History of SystematicsMichael Schmitt3. Homology as a Bridge between Evolutionary Morphology, Developmental Evolution, and Phylogenetic SystematicsManfred D. LaubichlerPart Two. Conceptual Foundations4. Historical and Conceptual Perspectives on Modern Systematics: Groups, Ranks, and the Phylogenetic TurnAndrew Hamilton5. The Early Cladogenesis of CladisticsOlivier Rieppel6. Cladistics at an Earlier TimeGareth Nelson7. Patterson's Curse, Molecular Homology, and the Data MatrixDavid M. Williams and Malte C. Ebach8. History and Theory in the Development of Phylogenetics in Botany: Toward the FutureBrent D. MishlerPart Three. Technology, Concepts, and Practice9. Well-Structured Biology: Numerical Taxonomy's Epistemic Vision for SystematicsBeckett Sterner10. A Comparison of Alternative Form-Characterization: Approaches to the Automated Identification of Biological SpeciesNorman MacLeod11. The New Systematics, the New Taxonomy, and the Future of Biodiversity StudiesQuentin Wheeler and Andrew HamiltonIndex